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Connor’s awards keep coming

Fourteen- year-old Connor McLeod, who has been blind since birth, is receiving the recognition he deserves by winning two awards, one of which he will collect in the United States.

Connor is being recognised by the American National Braille Press (NBP) for his successful campaign to introduce tactile banknotes in Australia.

He will receive the NBP’s “Hands On” award at a Gala dinner in Boston in November.

This follows his recent success in the Daily Telegraph’s Pride of Australia awards, where Connor was awarded the Young Leader medal.

In February this year the Reserve Bank of Australia announced the next generation of banknotes will include a tactile feature as well as bright colours, large and bold numbers and different sizes for each denomination of banknote.

Connor’s campaign for tactile banknotes attracted the support of the Human Rights Commission, Vision Australia and almost 60,000 signatures on his online petition.

Connor began his campaign after receiving a birthday gift of cash, but was unable to determine the denomination.

He also requested the Commonwealth Bank include text-to-speech technology on EFTPOS machines, which informs vision-impaired people how much is being removed from their account at the time of purchase.